Allen Ginsberg

"In 1977, twenty years after the publication of his landmark poem "Howl" and Jack Kerouac' On the Road, Allen Ginsberg decided it was time to teach a course on the literary history of the Beat Generation. Through this course, which he taught first at the Narope Institute in Colorado, and later at Brooklyn College, Ginsberg saw an opportunity to present a full history of Beat literature and to record his own stories and memories, ones that might otherwise...

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Allen Ginsberg and his fellow Beats led an insurrection that profoundly altered the American literary and cultural landscapes. Collected here are journal entries culled from eighteen notebooks that Ginsberg kept during this extraordinary period -- thoughts, poems, dreams, reflections, and diary notes that intimately illuminate Ginsberg's actual travels and his mental journeys. They reveal a remarkable and fascinating...

"A collection of essential poems, essays, letters, songs, and photographs which aims to introduce new readers to the scope of Allen Ginsberg's work in its prolific and profound diversity"--

"First thought, best thought." This was the phrase that poet Allen Ginsberg used to describe spontaneous and fearless writing, a way of telling the truth that arises from naked and authentic experience. For more than 30 years, groundbreaking teachers at Naropa University such as Ginsberg and his colleagues Anne Waldman, William S. Burroughs, and Diane di Prima have inspired emerging poets and prose writers to express themselves with unfettered honesty...

Collects poems selected by the author as representative of his most honest, penetrant writing, and displays a progression of political, devotional, and sexual themes.

Martin Scorsese's documentary about Bob Dylan's legendary 1975 tour, which featured a band of troubadours including Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, and Joni Mitchell, blends behind-the-scenes archival footage, interviews, and narrative mischief.

Kerouac's life is examined through fascinating rare documentary footage and revealing interviews with some of Kerouac's most famous contemporaries and friends. Beginning with his Catholic boyhood, through his development as one of the most important modern American authors, to his self-destructive demise at the age of 49, 'Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats' is both an accurately detailed documentary and a moving drama.

Explores the esoteric life of the man who wrote one of the most provocative and influential novels of the 20th century. Bowles lead an enigmatic existence in harsh but beautiful Morocco. He became an icon to the Beat Generation and influenced a generation of artists. Explores his development as a novelist and composer, his marriage to writer Jane Bowles, and his ambiguous sexuality.

Traces Bob Dylan's journey from his roots in Minnesota, to his early days in Greenwich Village, to his tumultuous ascent to pop stardom in 1966. Joan Baez, Allan Ginzberg, Maria Muldaur, Pete Seeger, Liam Clancy, Mavis Staples and others share their thoughts and feelings about the young singer who would change popular music forever. Contains extensive archival footage, some never-before-seen and rare concert performances.

"The bizarre hallucinations of a heroin addict in withdrawal provide the basis for this unstructured, [semi-]autobiographical film by director Conrad Rooks. It begins as [protagonist Russel Harwick] arrives strung-out in Paris for a sleep-cure. As the strange visions begin, the story jumps haphazardly between 'reality' and [Harwick's] dream-world memories of growing up in Chappaqua, New York. The score was composed and played by sitarist Ravi Shankar"...